Final exam Flashcards
Weeds have a significant impact on the farm profitability, which of the below dose not describe the direct impact of weeds on profitability?
a) reduced water available for crops
b) reduced grain quality
c) Reduced product marketing options
d) reduced organic matter input into the system
Reduced organic matter input into the system
The most important role of legumes play in pasture system is to:
a) Provide variation in diet for the animal
b) improve pasture nutrition quality for the livestock
c) Fix nitrogen to supply the grass species
d) improve pasture competition with weeds
b) improve pasture nutrition quality for the livestock
In general terms, what tends to be happening with global crop productivity and demand?
a) agricultural productivity tends to be plateauing in developed nations while population growth is slow
b) developing nations in areas such as Latin america and Asia have large rates of population growth but agricultural productivity has reached its potential
c) Europe and North america have the greatest potential to increase agricultural productivity
d) developing nations ten to have the ability to increase agricultural productivity and population growth is slow
a) agricultural productivity tends to be plateauing in developed nations while population growth is slow
Which of the following is unlikely to assist in management of stubble born diseases?
a) controlling volunteer plants in the following season
b) rotation of crop types
c) retained stubble
d) fertilization
c) retained stubble
Which of the following is unlikely to assist in management of stubble borne diseases
Select one:
a. Controlling volunteer plants in the following season
b. Rotation of crop types
c. Retained stubble
d. Fertilisation
C) retained stubble
Plant industries in Australia often (but not exclusively) follow basic geographic trends. Select the correct answer:
Select one:
a. Southern areas tend to grow summer crops because their summers are mild
b. Southern areas tend to grow winter crops because rain falls in the winter
c. Northern areas tend to grow summer crops because winter is too cold
d. Northern areas tend to grow winter crops because rain falls in the winter
b. Southern areas tend to grow winter crops because rain falls in the winter
Why does soil texture matter?
Select one:
a. It determines the organic matter and nutrient concentration of the soil
b. It determines how much water will be available to the plant
c. It determines how much charge the soil has and how much water it can hold
d. It determines the pH of the soil
c. It determines how much charge the soil has and how much water it can hold
Identify which reason is the LEAST likely to explain why Agricultural enterprises have got bigger over time
Select one:
a. Cost-price squeeze (declining terms of trade)
b. Economies of scale- farms are more profitable if they are bigger
c. Technology reduces labour requirement
d. Corporate farms have bought up large areas as investments
a. Cost-price squeeze (declining terms of trade)
Select the answer that does NOT directly influence water available to the crop.
Select one:
a. Sowing configuration (row spacing, plan density)
b. Fallow management
c. Fertiliser rates
d. Stubble retention
e. Sowing timing
C) fertiliser rates
How did the introduction of freehold land titles encourage the development of the agricultural industry?
Select one:
a. It stopped drovers grazing on other people’s farms
b. Because the farmers didn’t have to pay rent, they could afford new equipment
c. It incentivised investment in farm technology and infrastructure
d. They didn’t, the agricultural industry would have developed anyway
c. It incentivised investment in farm technology and infrastructure
Which management practise DOESN’T directly influence soil organic matter? Select one: a. Cultivation b. Stubble retention c. Fertilisation practise d. Application of lime
D) Application of lime
How many stomachs does a ruminant have? Select one: a. 2 b. 1 c. 5 d. 3 e. 4
E) 4
Which class of sheep has been in a rapid state of decline as a proportion of the overall flock for the past 30 years? Select one: a. Wethers b. Ewes c. Lambs d. Rams
A) Wethers
What is the major market for meat from Australian cull cows and bulls?
Select one:
a. Manufacturing beef for export to USA, SE Asia and China
b. Whole carcasses for export to the middle east
c. Export to the EU
d. Meat Standards Australia
e. High quality beef for export to Japan
a. Manufacturing beef for export to USA, SE Asia and China
Which of the following countries/regions is the TOP export destination for wool? Select one: a. Greater China b. US c. Czech Republic d. India
A) greater China
What are the 3 main systems of a beef operation?
Select one:
a. Environmental systems, business systems and crossbreeding systems
b. Animal systems, soil systems and marketing systems
c. Genetics systems, data management systems and pasture systems
d. Breeding systems, marketing systems and pasture systems
e. Pasture systems, animal systems and grazing systems
e. Pasture systems, animal systems and grazing systems
Which of the following countries/regions is NOT in the top 4 export destinations for Beef? Select one: a. Greater China b. US c. Indonesia d. Japan e. Korea
D. Japan
What proportion of cattle slaughtered in Australia come from feedlots and is the importance of feedlots increasing or decreasing?
Select one:
a. Around half of all cattle – decreasing
b. Around 1/3 of cattle - decreasing
c. Around ¼ - Increasing
d. Around 1/3 of cattle - Increasing
e. Around half of all cattle – Increasing
B) around 1/3 of cattle- decreasing
Over the past 50 years, the number of piggeries is …………….. and the average herd size is ……………. Select one: a. Decreasing, Decreasing b. Decreasing, Not changing c. Decreasing, Increasing d. Not changing, Increasing e. Increasing, Decreasing
c. Decreasing, Increasing
The palatability of feeds relate to:
Select one:
a. How much metabolisable energy is in the feed
b. The concentration of mycotoxins in the feed
c. How much the animals like it
d. The mineral content of the feed
e. How well the animal can digest the feed
E) how well the animal can digest the feed
Which of the following is more important for grazing beef and sheep production systems?
Select one:
a. Price received per kilo
b. Output per unit area ie kg Beef/Ha
c. Price received per animal
d. Production per animal ie weaning weights of calves
b. Output per unit area ie kg Beef/Ha
It’s expected rainfall is going to get more random (variable), so we need to manage our system by:
Select one or more:
a. Genetically changing our animals to store fat storage
b. Removing legumes from our pastures
c. Having monocultures of grasses
d. Changing our pasture species
e. Conserving fodder
A, d, e
Lovering and Crabb (1998) stated “much resource degradation in Australia is now regarded as irreversible”. In this context they suggest the first principle of sustainability of an agricultural system is to:
Select one:
a. don’t worry about resource degradation
b. with increasing land degradation the long term economic viability of the farm will always increase
c. identify the continuing threats to resource degradation and encourage damage to the natural resource base
d. identify the continuing threats to resource degradation and ensure there is no more damage to the natural resource base
d. identify the continuing threats to resource degradation and ensure there is no more damage to the natural resource base
There is a relationship between the legume plants that supply carbon and the rhizobium bacteria that fix nitrogen from the atmosphere which is then utilised by the legume.
Select one:
True
False
True
The addition of legumes (including clover) decreases the amount nitrogen content available for the animals to graze.
Select one:
True
False
False
What is the major limitation of native grasses in the Kirby grazing system?
Select one:
a. long lifecycle
b. short lifecycle
b. short lifecycle
How can you identify a stock camp:
Select one:
a. Always at the middle of the slope
b. Always at the bottom of the slope
c. Often green with thistles
c. Often green with thistles
What dose Sustain mean?
a) Maintain, keep in existence
b) developments that meet the needs of the present while present while safeguarding Earths life supports
c) Maintain the natural environment
d) safeguard the earths existence
a) Maintain, keep in existence
In economics a natural resource is seen in terms of its ?
a) Dollar value rather than its environmental potential
b) cost over environment sustainability
c) expected benefits verses costs of alternative
uses and is usually on a national scale
d) National scale and expected benefits
c) expected benefits verses costs of alternative
uses and is usually on a national scale
What is the possible implication of views the natural environment from an economic standpoint?
Implications of this view is that degradation or
loss of production may not always be bad as
these trends may be justified in terms of
economic and social outcomes.
What dose ecological sustainability mean?
using, conserving and enhancing the communities resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained and the total quality of life, now and in the future can be increased”
Sustainability from a agricultural standpoint
using farming practices and systems that will
maintain and enhance the viability (often
defined in economic terms) of agricultural
production, the natural resource base and other
ecosystems that are influenced by agricultural
activities.
– emphasis is on maintaining or improving the resource
base in the “long” term
– implies non-sustainable system will be characterized
by degradation of a resource and/or a decline in
productivity
Sustainability issues that need to be consider in an agricultural systems.
Soil erosion Salinisation (increase salts) Acidification (lower pH) Weed and pest encroachment Water quality and availability Pollution and vegetation decline Profitability Marketing Social benefits
Estimated economic loss due to degradation of weeds?
a) 0.45 billion
b) 5.3 billion
c) 3.9 Billion
d) 2.8 billion
c) Weeds (impact and control costs) $3.9
billion annually
Estimated economic loss due to degradation of subsoil depletion?
a) 0.45 billion
b) 5.3 billion
c) 3.9 Billion
d) 2.8 billion
b) Subsoil depletion (2010-11) $5.3 billion
Estimated economic loss due to degradation of land degradation?
a) 0.45 billion
b) 5.3 billion
c) 3.9 Billion
d) 2.8 billion
a) Land degradation $0.45 billion
Factors determining the distribution of
agricultural enterprises
- Economics
-Social issues - Transport/Technology
- Ecology (Soils &
plants)
Sub tropical perennials
a) Bromes, barley grass & medics
b) Rye grass, barley grass & Poa
c) Poa, Wallaby grass and Kangaroo grass
d) Spear grass, wiregrass, native sorghums,
b) Poa, Wallaby grass and Kangaroo grass
Temperate annuals:
a) Bromes, barley grass & medics
b) Rye grass, barley grass & Poa
c) Poa, Wallaby grass and Kangaroo grass
d) Spear grass, wiregrass, native sorghums,
a) Bromes, barley grass & medics
Tropical perennials:
a) Bromes, barley grass & medics
b) Rye grass, barley grass & Poa
c) Poa, Wallaby grass and Kangaroo grass
d) Spear grass, wiregrass, native sorghums,
d) Spear grass, wiregrass, native sorghums, Mitchell and Flinders grass
Pastoral/farming Zones • Northern Pastoral – ? • Southern Pastoral – ? • Wheat -Sheep Zone – ? • Beef -Sheep Zone – ? • Dairy Zone – ? -?
Northern Pastoral – summer perennials • Southern Pastoral – temperate winter annuals • Wheat -Sheep Zone – winter annuals • Beef -Sheep Zone – cool temperate perennials • Dairy Zone – introduced pasture – Better rainfall, soil and irrigation
Rainfed (dryland) agriculture:
cropping that totally relies on rainfall. It is the dominant system in the
humid and semi-humid regions; rainfall often
insufficient (200 mm ‐ 500 mm) & unreliable
Irrigated agriculture:
cropping relies solely or
partly on artificial water application; dominant in semi‐ arid, arid and semi‐humid regions
• Rangeland (natural vegetation):
Practiced in the arid regions of the world where rainfall is ineffective and unreliable. This type of agriculture is a gamble and
crops if they are grown often fail.
How much of our space is
cropped vrs grazed?
a) Grazed: 399 million ha cropped: 11 million ha
b) Grazed: 400 million ha cropped: 24 million ha
c)Grazed: 355 million ha cropped: 25 million ha
d) Grazed: 355 million ha cropped: 24 million ha
Grazed: 355 million ha
cropped: 24 million ha
Dry land farming systems
Covers ~400 million ha ‘agricultural’ lands
• ~24 million ha cropping (5% cultivated land area is irrigated)
• Concentrated mostly around the edges of the country
Two of the climatic determinants of cropping
- Water availability (rainfall)
* Favourable temperatures
Winter dominant rainfall (southern Australia):
crops tolerant of low temperatures, e.g. wheat, barley,
lupin, chickpea, faba beans, canola.
Summer dominant rainfall:
greater variety of
cropping options allowing summer and winter crops,
e.g. maize, sorghum, cotton, mung beans, soy beans,
rice, peanut, wheat, barley, chickpea, fababeans.
Soil is a reservoir for what growth resources
– Water
– Nutrients
– Micro‐organism
Soil degradation:
decline in soil quality caused by its
improper use, usually for agricultural, pastoral,
industrial or urban purposes (NSW DPI)
Soils differ in their sensitivity to disturbance
Major attributes of soil
Texture: proportion of three mineral particles
(sand, silt and clay) that are differentiated
based on their size
• Structure: arrangement of particles into larger
aggregates of different sizes and shapes
• Horizon: depth and layering soil of parent
material by climate and living organisms.
There are 4 master horizons
resulting in pore spaces between them
Soil particles diameter: Gravel sand silt clay
Gravel: >2.0mm
sand: 0.05- 2.0
silt: 0.002- 0.05
clay: <0.002
Soil structure is the arrangement of particles of various sizes into discrete units (peds) through adhesion
- granular
- platy
- blocky
- prismatc
what dose soil Structure changes:
Water storage • Water/gas diffusion • Nutrient availabilities • Water infiltration • Root exploration
Soil Chemistry, Sands
dominated by silica and produces soils that are inherently low in nutrients, low in charge
Loam and clay soils:
Loam and clay soils: (e.g. basalt parent) minerals weather to release nutrients
(Ca, Mg, K, P etc). Soil weathering creates negatively charged surfaces that
enable it to ionicly attract cations.
The pH (acidity or alkalinity):
a measure of hydrogen concentration in solution. It influences a wide range of chemical processes in soil, including nutrient availability and toxicity
Why dose chemistry matter?
• Nutrient availability
• Make nutrients toxic
• Root exploration and
plant growth
How can soil chemistry be altered?
Can be altered by practice
• Liming
• Use of ammonium based
fertilizers
What is Soil salinity:
high concentrations of soluble salts in soil
Soil salinity causes problems in soil such as
Poor soil structure (particularly sodicity)
Reduces water storage and water availability to the plant
What dose salinity cause?
Dryland salinity, Irrigated salinity
Cures to soil salinity
Cures: Manage landscape scale water use, limit saline irrigation water and
plant tollerant sp.
What are Organic matter and Biological activity an indicator of??
Organic matter and biological activity are
indicators of system health and contribute
significantly to the operation of the system.
What dose Organic matter and biological activity changes:
Water storage
• Soil Structure (believe it or not)
• Nutrient availability
Top 3 crops grown in Australia
Wheat
Barley
Canola
What are the Major constraints to cropping in Aus?
Diseases- Plant productivity, product quality
Weeds - Resource competition, product quality
Pests- Plant productivity, vector for diseases
What are weeds? and how much yield has been lost dollar amount
Plants growing out of place and compete for resources with cultivated crops
Yield losses to farmers amounted to A$3.9 billion annually between 1997 and 2002
• Weed control is a high priority
Weed management
Many herbicides available
– Pre-emergent and Post-emergent (contact and systemic)
– Crop competition
– Cultivation
– Potential for resistance
– Genetically modified crops tolerant of herbicides
What are Diseases and the groups that they fall into?
Diseases are disorders caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses.
They can be grouped into 2:
• Foliar diseases that attack the above‐ground parts of the plants (e.g. stripe rust)
• Soil‐borne diseases infect roots and/or lower parts of the stems that are close to the ground
What are the constrain in productivity for diseases?
They constrain productivity by:
• Reducing yields (plant stress)
• Reducing yield quality
• Increasing cost of production
Management techniques for diseases?
Management • Rotation (reduce inoculum levels) • Stubble management • Genetic resistance or tolerance – Evolution of pathotypes • Fungicides – Foliar – Seed treatment • Weed control (green bridge) • Cultivation/burning • Canopy management
Pests and damages that they cause
Insects ‐ the most important (but not exclusive)
• Above and below ground
– Highly dependent on the crop, location and season
• Can cause substantial yield losses. For instance, cotton bollworm
(Helicoverpa) caterpillars can destroy an entire cotton boll.
• In Australia economic cost of helicoverpa in cotton A$328 M
annually in the late 1990s in Australia.
Management techniques for pests
Management • Insecticides available – Timing of application can be important – Damage to friendlies (beneficial insects and off-site (non-targets)) – Potential for resistance
Irrigated agriculture in Australia locations:
- Snowy Mountain Scheme
- Burdekin Valley
- Lower Burnett Valley
- Ord River
Irrigated agriculture aims
to use the smallest volume of water for maximal crop production without risking the
crop or land
Benefits to irrigation
Irrigation provides a farmer the capacity to control timing, frequency and amount of water supply to the crop
– Helps in managing climatic risks and variability
– Increases cropping options both in terms of
species and variety
Irrigated agriculture: main criteria
A reliable source of quality water • Water storage facilities (dams, tanks etc) • Pumping & conveyance • Suitable soil types • Efficient application technologies • On‐farm water management, including drainage • In‐crop water management • High value crops
Irrigated agriculture: threats
environmental, on‐farm
management,
socio‐economic
- Water availability (the most critical)
- Water quality
- Competition with other sectors, including environment
- Allocation & pricing
Water management for irrigation
•
Excessive watering • Drainage, runoffs (erosion) • Salinization of soil – Salts in irrigation water (0.5- 30 kg/m3) – Water table rise • Leaching of salts from root zone • Degradation of groundwater resources • Match water application to soil and crop needs (volume & timing)
Pasture Systems types of pastures used in Aus
Shrublands: saltbush and bluebush in the semi‐arid regions
• Native grasslands: schlerophyll sp (Mitchell grass, black spear grass, red
grass and wallaby grass) in the tropics
• Sown tropical grass pastures: African & South American spp (signal
grass, buffel grass, stylos, twining tropical legumes,….)
• Temperate high rainfall pastures: sown pastures using species from
Europe (phalaris, ryegrass, clovers)on previously forested landscapes;
primarily sheep and cattle production
• Fertilised mixed pastures: highly fertiliy (rainfall) and highly productive; this is typified by ryegrass + clovers for diary, mostly in Victoria
• Pastures in cropping lands (ley farming systems): in rotation with crops; has other benefits => improves soil, disease break
Challenges that Pasture Systems present
Insect pests and diseases • Animal pests (e.g. rabbits) • Land degradation • Nutrition • Financial viability • Climate • Pasture establishment techniques
maintaining productive pasture involve
• Seed source – obtaining quality seeds • Choice of pasture type (temperate/tropical, grass/legume, perennial/annual) • Tillage/sowing • Fertilisation • Grazing management
Grazing management involves:
Stocking rate (trade off)
• Species selection for feed gap (ryegrass -winter active, lucerne –drought
resistant)
– Native vs Introduced
• Fodder crops (e.g. oats or sorghum)
• Match animal reproductive timings for peak demand
• Plant nutrition
What are the 3 main types of grazing
Three main types:
• Rotational grazing: livestock periodically moved between paddocks
• Continuous grazing: possible where stocking rate is light. Selective
grazing in mixed pastures
• Strip grazing: often used for fodder crops produces high pressure short term grazing usually with portable fences
Pasture Systems: pressures
- Financial pressures:
• Slow rate of uptake of innovations:
• ‘Limited’ native:
How can a Pasture Systems be managed sustainability?
Well managed pastures can be very very sustainable:
• Legume components fix nitrogen
• Continuous ground cover: reduces soil degradation
• Improves soil‐water storage and utilisation
• Biodiversity advantages for windbreaks and corridors
• Rotations: disease break, nutrient supply
• Flexibility in pasture and livestock choices to better
respond to changing environmental and market
conditions
What is Precision Agriculture? (Practically)
Practically
Doing the right thing
At the right TIME
In the right PLACE To the right ANIMAL
Relates to temporal- spacial
What’s driving PA?
- Feeding the world
- Efficient food, quality food & safe food water security
- Preservation of environment
- Increased consumer demand for knowledge
Types of variability and an example of each type.
Temporal variability
Variation over time (i.e. rainfall)
Spatial variability
Variability across an area (i.e. soil pH)
Individual variability
Variability between a group of animals (i.e. fleece weight)
What is the process of PA
Step 1: Observation and collection of the data
Step 2: data interpretation
Step 3: implementation of management plan
What dose EMI stand for?
Electromagnetic Induction
EMI sensors basic info
The most widely used PA soil sensors are EMI sensors. • They are simple to use and can provide useful
information of the underlying soil.
• EMI sensors measure electromagnetic conductivity (Eca) in the soil
• Fortunately, apparent soil conductivity (ECa) often correlates to important soil characteristics:
• Salinity
• Texture (Clay content) • Soil water content
What Dose EMI not do?
EMI surveys provide information about soil conductivity, they are NOT soil maps, they are soil conductivity maps.
How does EM work?
- It’s electrical induction: The sensor has a transmitting coil at one end and a receiving coil at the other end.
- The transmitter emits an electromagnetic signal (primary magnetic field) which passes through the soil.
- This induces a secondary magnetic field in the soil which is detected by the receiver coil
What effects the quality of the reading on the EMI sensor
The strength of the signal is proportional to the soil conductivity ECa
• This relates to:
•ion content (salinity) •texture
•moisture
Purpose of raising livestock
- Produce healthy, wholesome protein sources
- Produce fibre and fertilizer/waste
- Manage plants/weeds
- Help preserve an endangered breed or species
- Make money/earn a living
- Reduce your income tax by being a primary producer
- Cultural reasons
- “Love animals”
When was the Dog Domesticated and why?
14,000 years ago and companionship
When and Why was the Sheep Domesticated
When: 10,700 Years Ago
Why: Milk and Clothing
When and Why was the Goat Domesticated
When: 9,000 Years Ago.
Why: Food, Clothing and Milk
When and Why was the pig Domesticated
When: 9,000 Years Ago.
Why: Food & Sport
When and Why cattle were Domesticated
When: 6,500 Years Ago.
Why: Religious Reasons
When and Why Chickens were Domesticated
Also Where?
When: 5,500 Years Ago.
Why: Food, Cockfights, Religion
Where: India
When and Why Horses were Domesticated
When:5,000 Years Ago.
Why: Food & Transport
After animals become domesticated, they become dependent on man why cant they be released back into the “wild”
- Most can’t survive in wild
- Most poultry can’t fly
- Most Sheep don’t shed wool
- Cows produce 10,000 L milk / year
- Birds produce 250 eggs / yr. (20 in wild
What are wild animals?
Not genetically altered by selective breeding
Exotic Animal:
- Wild animal not native to country
* Example = Deer
Feral Animal:
• A domestic animal that lives in the wild with no
human assistance – wild boar
Breed:
• A population of domestic animals, that the
individual may vary in genotype and phenotype
WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF CONSUMERS:
- Vegans
- Vegetarians
- Omnivores
- Grillivores
- Carnivores
- “Enlightened meat consumers”
Why consume meat? And what animal meat do we consume?
Beef, Pork, Lamb, Goat, Poultry
– Most efficient way to get protein
– Only way to harvest some natural resources like grass which are high in cellulose and lignin
– Red meat = nutritious
Red meat Nutritional value
9 essential nutrients including: • Iron • Zinc • B12 • Omega- • Protein • B group vitamins Phosphorus
WHAT DO MEAT CONSUMERS’ DEMAND?
Confidence factors
• Quality- Flavour, Juiciness and tenderness
• Safety- Lack of residues or hazards
Ethical factors
• Products produced, harvested and handled ethically
• Environmental concerns - E. coli, nitrates
Nutritional factors
• Lean, low-fat, healthy source of protein and Bvitamins
• Source of Iron, Zinc and Omega 3’s
Economic factors
• Reasonable purchase price, value for price
What fibers come from animals?
Wool – major industry in Australia • Mohair • Fur • Silk • Velvet
Animal Use as By-Products and examples of each type
• Bones - buttons, glue, fertiliser, mineral supplement for livestock
feed (Calcium)
• Fat - chemicals, creams, dressings, lubricants, soaps, food
• Glands - medicines, food additives
• Collagen - (connective tissue in joints) glue & gelatin
• Intestinal & Stomach tissue - lunch meats, surgical sutures,
strings for musical & sports instruments
• Stomach contents - fertilizer
Behavioural Characteristic favorable to
domestication
- Group Structure Large social groups, hierarchical , males in herd
Sexual Behaviour Promiscuous matings, males dominant
Parent-Young interactions Specific mother/young bond, precocial young
Responses to man Short flight distance, not disturbed by sudden changes
Herbivorous/omnivorous, environmentally
adaptable, limited agility
Bases of genetic Selection for animals
• Selection based on….
– Phenotype, individuality and structural soundness
– Pedigree and GENETICS
– Production testing ie efficiency
– Reproductive capacity & resilience
Management systems Intensive farming
smaller acreage, more input costs
per hectare, more labor inputs, sell for higher
prices, coastal regions and southern Australia
Management systems Extensive farming
= larger acreage, fewer input costs,
less labor, slower growth rates, rangelands of
northern Australia
examples of animals that are Monogastric and how many stomachs they have?
Monogastric:
- examples – Pig, Dog, Human
- 1 stomach
examples of animals that have a Gizard and how dose digestion work in there body?
Examples: Chicken, Turkey, Duck
Gizzard- is a muscular part of the chickens stomach and uses grit (small, hard particles of pebbles or sand) to grind grains and fiber into smaller, more digestible, particles.
examples of animals that are Polygastric and how many stomachs they have?
– Cow, Sheep, Goat
Polygastric digestive system has a four-chambered stomach
examples of animals that are Pseudo-ruminants and how many stomachs they have?
- Horse, Rabbits, Hamster, kangaroo
3 Chamber stomach
Gross value of key products:
Livestock products:
Crops:
livestock slaughter:
Livestock products: $7398
Crops:$11,888
livestock slaughter: $18598
What percentage of lamb and sheep meat is consumed domestically?
27% or 9.2 million carcasses
What percentage of lamb and sheep meat is exported?
73% exported
Is the amount of mutton exported increasing or deceasing?
Decreasing
Is the amount of Lamb exported increasing or deceasing?
Increasing
What are the top 3 nations that Australia exports lamb to?
Middle east- 24.5%
US- 22%
China- 19.3%
What are the top 3 nations that Australia exports mutton to?
Middle east: 36.6%
South east Asia: 19.3%
China: 16.9%
Wool production has decreased since what year?
1990
What percentage of wool is processed locally?
next to none
What percentage of wool is exported to china?
86%
In 2015/16 Australia produced how much beef?
2.3 million tonnes
What nations were beef exported too?
USA: 28.6%
Japan:23%
Koera: 14.8
Live exports of beef, what was the top 3 exportation nations?
Indonesia: 46.2%
Vietnam: 23.5%
China: 8.1%
Approximately how many sows are in Australia
261,000
What is happening to the average pig heard size in Australia? And why?
They are increasing as there are next to no small pig farms they have all been taken over by big farming business .
There are two main chicken industries what are they?
Broilers ( meat chickens )
• Layers
What are the types of production systems for Broilers
– Commercial/Barn
– Free range
What are the types of production systems for layers?
– Cage
– Barn
– Free Range
What age dose a chicken start laying eggs and how many eggs can 1 chicken produce in there life time
begins laying eggs at approximately 18 weeks of age and by the end of her first year, she may have produced upwards of 200 eggs - nearly 12 kg.
Broilers are harvested at what age and what is there market weight ?
Harvested at 5-9 weeks
– Females take a little longer than Males to finish
• Market Weight = 1.5 – 2.5 kg
What percentage of cattle are in QLD?
60%
Why has there been an increase in the amount of cattle located in QLD?
Introduction of Bos indicus blood lines that are better able to tolerate heat and humidity
Major changes in the dairy industry?
Major changes have been:
– increase in herd size
– change in breed to high volume producer
(Friesian)
What are the types of Intensive industries
• Piggeries • Chickens – Broilers (meat) – Layers (eggs) • Beef cattle feedlots
Intensive industries Characteristics
Not self- supporting systems, require importation of food and export of excreta
• Less prone to climatic change (potential long term effects of drought)
• Located in areas where feed sources are available
• Due to concentration of animals and therefore nutrients there is a large potential for environmental damage
What year did Australia start experimenting with beef feedlots?
1950’s
What dose DSE stand for?
Dry Sheep Equivalent
What is site specific management
“A form of PA whereby decisions on resource application and agronomic practices are improved to better match soil and crop requirements as they vary in a field”
What are Variable Rate (VR) practices?
We now have machines that adjust input rates across the paddock
- Seed sowing rate
- Growth regulators
- Fertilisers
- Herbicides/Pesticides
This is done through variable rate controllers
Why use variability rate practices?
Save input costs
• Standard technique was to
apply all nitrogen “up front”
• This caused several problems:
• N could be lost through leaching if there was a big rainfall event.
• N could be lost through denitrification during water logging.
• The N rate applied may not suit all season.
• Over and under fertilising areas of the paddock
Examples of Machinery that I uses variable rate technology
Sensors which we use: • EM38 (for soils) • Greenseeker (plants) • Satellite (plants) • Yield monitors (grain/plants) • From the sensor measurements, maps of variability are created which we use to make decisions on how much to apply
